Shift Perceptions + Shape the Future

This month I delivered a talk at the Social Impact Festival called “Maintaining Community within a Dementia Facility”. My session also included two other fantastic speakers, Michelle Harris on “Building Dementia Friendly Communities”and Anne Nilsen on "The Concept of German Multigenerational Houses". The festival is called Shift Perceptions. Shape the Future and runs from 18-28 July 2017 at UWA. The program is full of really interesting sessions.

So how do we maintain community within a dementia facility? I am more than happy to run through my presentation should anyone be interested in hearing more. I believe as designers and architects we need to look at how we can design places that people want to visit. I showcased some overseas facilities that are successfully achieving that in a variety of ways. I also ended my presentation showcasing a restaurant with a difference. In Japan there is a pop up restaurant called “The Restaurant of Order Mistakes” and they only hire waiters with dementia. Their premise is that the staff may very well get your order wrong but if you go there knowing that from the start you won’t be disappointed. The idea is to change people’s perception about dementia. They also hope to show that people with dementia can still be functioning members of society.

The restaurant’s trial period is now over but the founders are now planning another pop-up in September to commemorate World Alzheimer’s Day.